Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves | 2025 NBA Playoffs Game 3 Post Game Interviews

Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves | 2025 NBA Playoffs Game 3 Post Game Interviews

Chris, that was a a battle of a game. Like, what did you see from your guys offensively in the fourth to find that final push that you needed? Yeah, I mean, we started uh playing through Julius a little bit more and got great spacing and um I thought uh for the first, you know, for the first time consistently all game, we actually like went somewhere. I thought, you know, we we kind of were in each other’s way all night long. I mean, they were very physical and aggressive on the ball, but um you know, I thought, you know, we we were able to kind of get better spacing and and go somewhere quick with the ball, you know. So, um we’ve talked about all playoffs, but Julius, I mean, a triple double tonight just and he wasn’t on early offense or with his shot at least, but how do you see him just find his way in these games to make the impact he’s making? Well, he’s playing with so much force and determination, you know, and um um and he’s going out there early and aggressive. Uh and he’s exerting a ton of energy on the defensive end with his body and his rebounding. He’s playing a complete game for us, no doubt. Um, you know, and sometimes when it’s really sticky on the perimeter, like they’re holding all all the time everywhere and they’re really handsy, you know, it’s it’s we play through him and, uh, he just kind of gives us a pressure release, you know. So, uh, three kind of clutch wins in the postseason for you so far. Just what has this team found comfortwise, uh, related to Julius and Ant in these moments that, you know, has has really benefited them? I mean, you know, we’re making some shots for sure. We’re getting stops, but you know, we were we were getting stops throughout the regular season. What we’re just winning the possession battle in clutch time now. We’re just not we’re not giving, you know, the ball back on cheap turnovers. We’re not giving up as many or any uh second chance opportunities. Today, we actually were really big on the boards and and clutch time ourselves getting some uh second shot opportunities. So, um, that’s it. You know, that that’s really if you had to boil it down to one thing. It’s just it’s was just getting more more looks at it. With Ants Knight, quiet first half, comes on in the second half. How did you see him navigate the game? And I mean, he’s um, you know, he I like the way he started. He was I thought he was aggressive and doing the right things. And, uh, you know, in the first half when he was putting the ball on the deck, he was drawing such a crowd. We were actually able to, you know, find some cleaner looks. Um uh but he really got himself going with the dunk. You know, he he um we needed to spread the floor for him a bit more. He you know, he needed just go downhill. I thought there was again too much traffic around him at times and you know, we we just needed to kind of open up the floor for him. Chris, did your court IQ meet your standards or do you think that they just made you play ugly in many respects? I mean, you know, they made they made they made the game ugly. They did a great job of just, you know, being super physical and uh trying to, you know, kind of like I said, take it into the mud. Um, and you know, we we the we could certainly obviously do things better and smarter. We’ll look at the the tape to try to to see where we can, but um I was proud of our guys cuz we got right down in the mud there with them. So, and that shot distribution, I mean, Ann and Julius took a lot more of the shots than usual. Is that just because that’s what the game was giving you? I think I think so. It was, you know, it was hard to get somebody into else into the game. I felt um you know with the physicality out there um and we were turning it over a lot and we turned it over a lot you know for the game. That’s way too many in general. So um but you know those guys were were were our best players on the floor tonight and and we needed the ball in their hands because it just felt safe and strong. So Chris, with Julius, um, obviously he gives you guys scoring consistently, but it seemed like he was doing a lot of the the other things too. That big rebound late at the end of the game, which like deflections, 50/50 balls. I mean, how much did you need that part of him? We need it all. I mean, we need everything from Julius, like you know, his hustle plays, his, you know, sometimes he can just, uh, you know, he does a great job of just kind of chasing down rebounds and and stuff like this. Um, you know, yeah, we need it all. I mean, his ability to stand up some of those really physical offensive guys out there, you know, we need it all. So, coach, can you take me through the evolution of your strategy defensively today? You only give up five threes in the first half and then they get loose for more threes in the third quarter, but by the fourth, you’re really contesting everything in the paint, forcing misses. Did you make a change there at halftime? How did that evolve? No, we didn’t make a change. I mean, uh, you know, I think they they did a couple things to try to shake loose. They got they got out in transition a little bit, got got some, um, you know, matchup advantages for them and and stuff like that. So, uh, I mean, we just kind of fell asleep on some things we knew were coming that we should have been a little bit more aware of. So, um, you know, generally we like to try to take away the three, but you know, they made a couple late when they we were guarding them and we just got to get up a little tighter and we got to know better that they’re going to try to shoot threes when they’re down at that point of the game, too. So, Chris, you you’ve seen it plenty of times before, but Ant with the dunk in the third quarter. What’s what’s the impact on the group with a play like that? And and are you numb at all to this at this point of that kind of a play with him? Uh, I I mean, I wouldn’t say numb. I mean, it doesn’t surprise me anymore when I see his spectacular plays. Uh, but it’s it just infuses our group with so much energy, you know, and then, you know, he he kind of gets going, too. And, um, you know, we really need that from him. And, uh, you know, he’s he’s uh he’s been working hard on finishing. He knows that um, you know, there’s opportunities to get to the rim against these guys with their lack of size at times. Um and he, you know, he’s been on himself uh to to finish better and that’s that was kind of I think uh his message to himself. Chris, you had um uh 11 assists from Randall in game two, 12 tonight, five in the fourth quarter. Just and they were different types of reads, you know, the swing to Jaden. There’s a you know, he went to a a couple times to dump off to Rudy. Just how big is his decision making for you for this group right now? And it’s uh it’s extremely important. It’s really what’s turn turned our season around was his playmaking, his decision- making, playing through him in different spots of the floor. Took us a little while to figure that out. I’ve always known he’s a really good playmaker. You know, our time in in in New Orleans, he played a little bit like this. Um and, you know, he’s just he gives us just another uh almost another point guard like out there. So, yeah, it’s it’s everything for us. It’s been everything for our turnaround. It’s everything for our team. So Chris, seems like if you guys defend the first 10 seconds of the shot clock against this team, you’re in a really good spot. Does that take a little bit of adjusting to to and then I guess Julius says methodical basketball in the fourth just sets a pace. U did that maybe help out defensively as well? Sure. Sure. Sure. Yeah. Like um you know get getting controlled offenses kind of slow the game down. Um, I mean, you know, it’s what we always always felt would it was gives us another guy in those moments to give the ball to. Um, does a great job of, you know, getting a foul or or creating his own shot. And obviously, we just talked about what you can do for others. Um, and you know, and then these guys are, you know, they they they’re super smart basketball team you’re playing and they’re going to try to push it at you all the time. So, if you can’t get connected early against them, you’re going to ch spend the entire shot clock chasing them. So, is this where this feels like these will be games of runs because if you’re not scoring now, they have chances to go the other way and vice Yeah, a little bit. I think scoring against these guys is huge just because it, you know, keeps them out of transition a little bit more. So, Chris, the bench scoring was up in the last game, only 11 points from the bench tonight. How good does it feel to still be able to come out with a win when you don’t get the production that maybe you’re looking for from the bench? Yeah, we need those guys, you know, but uh you know, tonight just wasn’t their night for one reason or another. Uh you know, they were doing other things out there. Certainly Nas on the out there on the floor. I thought I did a lot of other good things in the game and just helped us spread the floor at times. Um but uh you know, those guys will bounce back, but you know, we rode the guys that were um kind of playing a little bit better tonight. So, any other questions? Thanks. Thank you. [Music] Steve, you’re up five with about eight minutes left. What did you see happening there down the stretch that was it maybe a case of your guys wearing out a little bit after playing so hard for so long? Felt like a couple of offensive rebounds u for them turned into um threes. I I think Edwards had one out of the corner. Reed, there’s a big sequence where um you know Jimmy had a shot at the rim. um looked like he was going to convert. It looked like he might have gotten fouled, but um you know, then they went the other way, got an offensive board, and Reed hit the three from the corner. I thought that was the the sequence that really shifted um the game and the momentum. Um so 13 offensive boards for them, 26 points. Um that was um that was a big factor in the fourth. Draymond’s six fouls obviously played a major factor and you know I think two of them were challenged, one by you, one by them and then obviously the sixth one late. What did you see there and just what did you think of his game overall? Yeah, I we felt um pretty strongly that the one on the uh I think it was his fourth um on the block they call the block it looked like Randall went through his chest and so we felt pretty good about challenging him. plus it was his fourth. Um but obviously it didn’t uh we didn’t get the call and um you know that that’s part of part of the game but Randall was great and u yeah the foul trouble um and the the sixth one was tough one that’s um that didn’t feel feel great looking at the replay but it is what it is and um you know they they outplayed us in the fourth and they deserve to win. How would you describe Jimmy Butler’s play tonight? He said if he needs to go score for it, he can he might be able to do it. Uh did you see him carrying an extra load in this and and what was that watching? Jimmy was incredible. I mean, he really controlled the game uh for us and uh you know, put us in a position to win and we just couldn’t close it out, but um he was brilliant all night. Did uh did JK figure something out last game? See, obviously tonight he’s got 30. Uh Jonathan Kaminga, just what do you think of his performance tonight? Oh, he was brilliant. JK um played one of the best games of his life. It was um fantastic to see and you can see how necessary he is in this matchup. Um especially without staff. You know, we’re having a tough time uh getting free and you know, he’s obviously capable of um you know, giving us some points, getting to the rim and I thought u he was fantastic. You know, I just I I’ve said it a couple times to you guys. I’ve just been impressed with the way he’s handled things the last couple weeks with the way he’s stayed ready and uh put in the work and and it paid off tonight. We know Brandon does so many things well besides scoring. He led the team in rebounds tonight, but just how much do you need his offense and his scoring, especially with stuff out? Well, you know, if if if things bounce the other way um and we’re in here with a win, nobody’s cares that he um didn’t didn’t score a lot. So, um, when the game goes in one direction or the other there, you know, it’s easy to kind of look at at different stats for different things. Um, BP’s not, you know, a big scorer. He’s a he’s a basketball player. He’s, um, he does a lot of great things out there. Thought he played really well tonight. The shots didn’t go, but, um, I’m confident that they’ll go in game four. Uh, you mentioned pregame you have to win the game with your defense. Just overall, what do you think about the collective team defense tonight? Yeah, team the team defense was really good. I mean, you know, we held him to 102. That’s a pretty good number. Um, but Randall and Edwards really both got going in the second half and that was the key. We couldn’t u couldn’t quite contain them, especially in the fourth and that was the difference. Steve, what’s going to be uh what’s going to have to go right for you on Monday to kind of make sure you don’t go back to Minneapolis? Not not that much really. Like we’re right there. Um, we feel great about um our our chances and uh this is what the the playoffs are all about. You know, there’s these emotional swings and momentum shifts and um we just got to, you know, take tomorrow off and get the guys re refreshed, recharged, and come back in Monday and tee it up again. Jimmy and Jonathan combined for 63 points. What did you think about them being on the floor together and complimenting each other and and each getting their attack? Yeah, I mean they they played great. I mean, we we had combinations out there that um probably hadn’t been out there the entire season, you know, starting trace and um you know, playing the the groups uh together that we did, but I think we uh we found uh some good combinations and um you know, Jimmy and and Draymond were both fantastic and played obviously played a lot of minutes together and did a great job. You only got up 23 threes. Um I mean, obviously no Steph creates issues there. I mean, are you just going to have to find a way to create more or is this just almost the style you have? Yeah, I mean, it’s hard to generate threes. I mean, you have to uh you have to gain an advantage and get get rotations and um you know, it’s hard hard for us to do without staff, without our point guard. Um you know, in pick and rolls and Jimmy obviously is creating plenty, but um it’s it’s different. it’s it’s not uh the same level of of um you know stretching the defense out like Steph does and um so we’ve got to we’ve got to find ways to to score more um to try to generate more shots um and we’ll we’ll look at the tape and figure that out. Steve, you talked about looking for the formula without Steph mixing and matching and and you guys spent a lot of time on this. How close do you think you are at Really? Yeah, really. I felt good about the way the game went tonight. We just couldn’t close it out. And uh again, give them credit. They they they made all the plays in the fourth and Randall and Edwards really got going and uh we just um we couldn’t quite, you know, overcome them um once once we got down. But um you know, we we controlled much of that game and you know, up up six or whatever it was um you know, eight minutes to go. I I liked where we were. We just couldn’t finish. So uh the formula looks good. You know, I I I we’ll we’ll have some adjustments to make, but um I I like the matchup. I like what we’re doing. Steve, beyond his scoring, what about the way Jonathan played? It seemed like a couple times he cut to the basket, off the ball to get passes. And I know you talked about him figuring it out back in January. Do you feel like you saw that? And how difficult is that given how little he’s played recently? Yeah, I mean, like I said, he’s uh he’s kept himself ready. He’s done a great job um of um you know working on his conditioning playing in the um you know the lowminute games and um you know didn’t didn’t play a whole lot in the Houston series but he’s um he’s clearly finding his his groove and his rhythm now and um just in time. Steve, you mentioned their offense getting going in the second half. What impact does Draymond picking up the fourth foul and then the sixth foul have on that? It’s Yeah, that was that was huge. That was a that was a really big deal. So, um, it’s, uh, it’s part of the game, you know, um, foul trouble, injuries, all that stuff. Um, none of it matters. You have to find a way. Did you notice them attacking you differently with him off? Did you notice them attacking differently with him off the court? No. No. Steve, you you mentioned earlier that you got to manufacture more offense, but with Steph out, obviously, you went a lineup that had three shoot three two non-shooters and and Brandon is struggling right now. Where do you find the offense from? If Buddy’s not making shots, where does it come from? Well, that’s the um that’s the trick. We we’ve got to um put our best two-way lineups on the floor. I think uh I I think we’re going to win the series with defense. We’re we’re not going to um you know, beat them in a skill game if, you know, we have to we have to get stops to win the series. Without Steph, obviously, we’re a totally different team. And so, um, if we can, uh, you know, get stops and run, create some offense off of our defense, um, that’s part of the the formula. Uh, Julius Randall has taken a very different role in this series versus past series and past games. He’s taking a lot more ball handling and a lot more passing. I think he’s averaged uh, 11 assists the last two games. How do you how are you planning on adjusting to make sure that his passing impact doesn’t Well, we’ll we’ll watch the tape tomorrow and figure it out and then we won’t tell you. So, we’ll save that for Monday. Thanks, coach. Thank you. Well, I know you fire away. Who’s first? Buddy, eventually some threes started falling. You helped out in that department in the second half, but what were the challenges in that first half when you guys went 0 for five from three? It’s like they weren’t the opportunities to take three weren’t even coming as well. Yeah, we do. We I mean uh you look in the first two games before that, uh we was not able to get threes up. Only person get threes up was probably Steph. And uh when Steph is not out there the way they’re gravitating to me uh just got to find a way to get them up. You know, you don’t want to be forceful out there and uh take the energy of the team and uh they want to take bad shots. You like, you know, and everybody was like, you know, we got to get threes up, but you got to stick to the energy of the game and flow the game. And uh I think the flow of the game led us had a two-point lead coming into halftime. Uh but yeah, but I think that as the pace picked up, you know, and you know, the stakes starting to come closer, you know, uh I able to get free and uh just spreading the storm and uh you know, I got up seven in the first half, made four. So hopefully probably made two more my chance win the game. Do you see anything right now? Sorry if I could follow up. Do you see anything right now hampering Pods’s shots or is he just with the spacing different? Do you think that’s impacting him? No, I mean to be honest with you, uh BP is one of the guys that’s free lensing out there. Uh they they’re letting him uh play basketball, but you know, and all in all, like you know, he’s second year guy, first up experience. You know, he’s go through ups and downs, but uh fun challenge, you know, and uh of course he doesn’t get hard on himself. He’s a hard worker. Every time I come to the gym, he’s always here working hard. Uh and like I just told him to to after the game, next shot, best shot. Yeah, you can worry about it. Just living living it now. And uh you know BP is going to come around for us. You know uh we just got to trust it. How would you describe the way Kaminga played tonight after what he’s been through? Elite elite elite. Uh just a Jonathan we missed. Just know just we know he was capable capable of. Uh I’m so happy for him to see him just just be aggressive and uh play basketball and uh without second guessing himself, you know, and like he said in the last interview, you know, he feel like he got his confidence back and uh his feet are under him and uh I think he did a great job tonight. Following up on that, you’re one of the guys who um we know has brought joy to this team both on and off the court. Is there any message that you’ve been telling JK kind of behind the scenes to just keep his confidence up? And it’s not only me, it’s uh it’s everybody, you know, uh just just opportunity, man. It’s when he comes, it’s just he’s a guy that works so hard. I don’t know if anybody works hard as JK. He’s always in the gym. Uh he comes and prepare himself. Uh and he’s working his butt off and uh he’s stay ready. He’s a true true professional and uh that’s why he’s helping this type of game here and I’d hope that everybody’s watching and seeing uh what he’s capable of. You’re known to talk to Jimmy some uh have a pulse on him. What did you think uh just being around him in this game? Where was his, you know, did he have a super high energy level even before the game? Oh, Jimmy. Yeah. Uh Jimmy was good. You know, he’s just been coming to being a pro, you know. Uh you know, he had 33 tonight. Uh he he willed us all the game. He wled us all game. And uh and uh we going to need him to do that again uh um for game four. Uh uh he’s he’s doing what he can do, man. and uh and and uh we just got to be ready to buckle down and uh give him some more support. Uh myself, everybody VP is locking in. The role players need to help Jimmy out some more so that we can like tie this up and uh go back to Minnesota. Steve’s talked a lot about having the formula with Steph now it has to change. Do you think you had a new formula tonight? Do you think this can carry over to the next game? you know the G we had the game in front of us you know uh I don’t know was the six minute mark we up like what three or four or five maybe and uh we got to get away from us we just got to be able to protect the basketball and uh just and where to the storm and uh just get the ball to Jimmy and let him uh figure it out for us. How has it been with Steph supporting the team off the court and do you ever feel kind of this pressure to to cover on his behalf? What does that look like for you? Uh nobody even would cover Steph Curry what he does. there’s no pressure. If you come in thinking there you got to like fool his his role, uh you’re crazy because he he does so much for his team, you know, you trust me, everybody would like to do it, but like he’s he’s touched by Angel, you know, he’s touched by God, you know, he’s blessed. Uh but he’s he’s Steph Curry, man. He’s always supportive, always there talking to the guys. I’m always asking questions. How can I what you see on this play? How can I get open? And uh and just reading stuff. And I think that just talking to him on the second half and halftime I was able to get some shots off early in the second half, you know, and as a game as a team. So just reading the defense, man. They like I’m getting the Steph rules right now. I and I told him I see I see what you go through. So but uh it’s fun as far as a seven game series. It’s always a challenge and uh you got to overcome these challenges. This is the best thing about this. Uh we get to Mother’s Day tomorrow and then after that uh Monday to show the world what we can do. Thank you, buddy. How does the margin for error change defensively when Draymond’s not on the floor? Yeah, man. That’s a tough call. Uh just just it’s a tough call, man. I feel like everything didn’t go our way tonight that we thought would go our way. There’s the offensive foul. Like I mean like I I just don’t understand the rules, you know. Draymond is all the world defensive player, you know. And uh if a guy put your forearm in his chest, I’ i’ve seen when guys referee challenge it, it went automatically. They didn’t take that long. And I feel like they were like debating it too long on on the challenge and reviewing it and just going over time and just trying to figure out what’s the right call. And uh uh I just know I just know that everything just went our way today and uh and that’s how the game is. We don’t want no excuses. We nobody feel sorry for us but uh nothing went his way today. Uh we’re picking up a foul against McDaniels and uh handed a part of the ball, you know. So uh but we didn’t get calls that we supposed to get. Jimmy got foul a couple times in the rim. Nu in his back. He had five fouls. So, it is what it is, man. And this is the fun part about it. You just got to figure it out. And uh we’re down to one. Uh we just got to wait to the storm. When you talk about getting the Steph rules right now, what is that like? I know you see him go through, but what is it like to go through it yourself? How difficult is that? Uh it’s it’s it’s it’s tough, but uh it’s a challenge, you know, and uh you got to be patient, man. And like a shooter, you’re never patient. Always trying to outgun somebody. you always trying to find the best shot possible and uh but I know in the playoffs you got to find the best shot possible. Sometimes you might take some crazy ones but and sometimes you might make that crazy ones but you need to find that spark to get your team going and you know everybody knows that. I think you can feel in the crowd like knows that we need to get threes up you know to be able to sustain and open up this gap but man it’s a fun challenge every day you know uh they’re a tough defensive group you know and uh I just can’t wait for Monday. When you say weather the storm, do did you do you take things out of this game that make you feel optimistic about Monday? Yeah, we taking you was probably the series you learn, you know, how can you adjust? They won two in a row. Uh I feel like it’s a game we we we we should have won tonight. Uh but we didn’t win it. Uh but you just got to go to drawing board and figure out what’s in that that spurt where we lost it, you know, and uh how we can learn and uh build from that. Um, you know, obviously Anthony Edwards is an elite talent, but what more can be done to to try to slow him down, especially in the late going here? Uh, he’s he’s going to get a lot of volume of shots shots up, you know, uh, what he was 13 for 28 as expected. Five from 14 and three. I mean, he did his thing. We just got to like try to be limited less more touches. Banana, you got don’t give him the easy ones. Uh, I think a couple of loose ball plays didn’t win our way. He got a couple threes off. uh a couple stick hands and uh and uh just keep them going from going downhill. You know, we try to stay in front of him as much as we can. From uh from game seven hero to uh taking game one on the road and then two straight losses. How do you deal with the kind of back and forth as far as like from a insane happiness to a little bit of uh disappointment? How do you deal with that? I mean, this is the NBA, man. You can’t get too high, can’t get too low. You know, you you enjoy doing it when you can, but uh it’s on to the next. uh like you said game seven is like you win that we don’t get couldn’t even enjoy it because we trying to watch film on uh Minnesota and uh ne one day off and then after next game playing and we won that one with NBA you can’t get too happy get be complacent this was like we haven’t won anything you know we move it to the next round but nothing has not been we won our goal win the championship and uh our goal is to try to weather the storm as we can to we get 30 back cuz uh we know how elite we are with him but I think we we I know we can beat these guys without him too. So, uh, ready for Monday. Get to draw on board and, uh, let’s get it. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Thank you. here shortly. How were your sunglasses? No, man. Julius, just um how did you kind of find the offensive rhythm and flow in the fourth quarter that was seemed like so tough for the group in general through three quarters there? Um I think we just stayed solid to be honest. We we’ve been in so many of these games throughout the year. We lost so many in the beginning of the year trying to find our identity and how we want to play. So I mean I look at the scoreboard going into the fourth quarter and I think we were down four. So you know in my mind I was just telling myself take it a possessions at a time. Uh just be solid get some stops and then on the offensive end just execute. It’s no different than than what we what we’ve done um you know to finish this year off. And coach um Finch said that that dunk that poster dunk got you going. What did you see on that dunk and then also how did that get you going into the game? Was extremely aggressive second half too. The poster dunk by me. Yeah, on Kavon Looney. N that I feel like uh when when Kaminga dunked on me that got me going more so anything here. Also, what did you um see from Julius? Triple double, second Tim Wolves player in history beyond KG. What did you see from him tonight? Um he was incredible, man. Um finding everybody on cuts, finding an open guy, uh time after time, just pushing the pace. Um and that’s what we asked for him and he he been doing it at a high level. So we can’t ask for nothing better, man. So he been making the game a lot easier for me. So I appreciate having him. And you said the the Kaminga dunk got you going, but what what do you have to do usually when maybe the the night is not going how you want it to go to get yourself going and you ended up finishing the way that you did? Um just trust the work, man. Um I feel like um the one thing I never lack is confidence. So if I got that, I’ll be all right. Julius, offensively, it seemed like you got going in a handful of different ways in this game. At the beginning, they were kind of giving you the three there. You found you found different paths through that. What What’s that kind of process look like for you over the course of the game, reading what the defense has given you? Um, I feel like I just got like a lot of different tools, you know what I mean? So, it’s just really about using my mind and taking what the defense gives me. Uh I talk to Seah Hines all the time and you know he tells me I can do everything. So you know for me it’s just about like like taking like I said taking what the defense gives me. If it’s a three take it you know trust my work. Uh but also being able to like read what’s going on out there. You know they put Kavon Looney uh at the five. So you know I wanted to get in actions with Mike uh in the pick and roll or you know if they put Draymond on me um you know I mean being a screener putting him in actions as well. So, uh, it’s really just just using my mind if I get a mismatch. Um, you know, getting to my operating areas and attacking and if they don’t double team me, score. If they double team me, find my guys. Mike, you guys have a number of clutch wins in the postseason here. Just what from your vantage point, what is what comfort level has this team found in those areas? And maybe that’s been a common denominator through these two series so far. Um, I think we’re just more confident now, uh, than we have been in the past. Um, you know, we saw it tonight being down, you know, a couple points, um, late in games and we don’t we don’t seem to panic. We tend to kind of double down on what we do defensively. Offensively, we got a good rhythm. Um, after now getting more chemistry with these guys and Julius, we now know who, you know, who and where to go to and, uh, how to get guys involved late and get easy opportunities for ourselves. So, um, you know, we just continue to do that. I think we’ll be fine. And, um, Jaden hit a three to double your lead from three to six with about 3 minutes to go. Julius found him, but you found Julius. How did you kind of read the floor there? And, and what kind of satisfaction or pride or whatever do you process from a hockey assist? Um, it’s just like an assist to me at the end of the day. long as um one of us scored with a Timberwolves uh thing across our chest. I don’t care what it is. I don’t care if I pass it or not. Yeah, it don’t really matter. Um but just reading the floor, I think I think Julius set a screen for me and uh I was looking for my shot, but they they they kept two people on me. Then I saw Julius on the pop and then he made a great read to Jaden in the corner and Jaden knocked it down. And Jaden was tremendous all night. He was three for four from three. I wish we could have got him a couple more looks, but that was just the flow of the game, but he came through big time for us. Mike, we see with Julius’s offense, he’s able to get you guys a lot of good looks, but on the other end, it seems like the way he when he’s rolling, it controls pace so much. How much does that help slow down a team like Golden State who’s trying to push at all times? Um, it helps a lot. you know, his physicality, his his demeanor, the way that he can control the pace, control the game um on both ends of the floor kind of gives us uh some control, gives us, you know, our ability to to to kind of settle into who we want to be um offensively, defensively. I mean, we we can get sporadic at times, but, you know, having a guy that you can just get the ball to and, you know, post him up or, you know, just just slow the game down, allow us to cut off of him and him make plays for everybody and make the game easy, it helps a lot. and uh his ability on defense to to use his size and switch and be switchable and and and talk and loud. I think that all helps um us be who we want to be. Mike, you got a very short rest at the end of the fourth and come right back in. Um just what were you trying to do defensively in those moments to get the stops that you needed just to close us out? Um really just just run them off the three-point line. You know, they want to get to, you know, Buddy. um get him good looks on that three-point line and then uh in in the games all things, you know, all bets are off. You can be as physical as you want. You just got to play one-on-one defense. You kind of got to man up and that’s what we all did. Um you know, the final couple possessions of the game. Um and that’s all we were trying to do, you know, trying to end the possession with a rebound and go the other way. Um, Mike, it may have been, you know, it seems like uh Aunt and and Julius had 52 of like the 82 shots. Is that a function of playoff basketball? Is that what they were giving you or I mean, they only had 52. We trying to get them 6070, bro. We need No, it’s uh it’s a function of how our team is going to flow, man. It’s it’s we need those guys to be aggressive. We want them to to take the shots. Um we want them to take them especially if they’re good good, you know, in rhythm in in flow of the game and um and they’re doing the right things being aggressive getting to the rim. We don’t mind that. We know we’re going to get our shots uh through the through the flow of the game on other stuff. So uh need these guys to be more aggressive. Like you can just Jimmy and Jimmy Butler took 44. Jimmy and Kaminga took 44 to 81. Is that bad offense? Huh? They said Kaminga and Jimmy took 44 to 81 shots. Is that bad basketball? Is that bad basketball, man? I didn’t say it was bad. I just play basketball. Yeah, it’s playoff. The best players shoot the ball every Hell yeah. Mike, you can see with what they’re doing defensively, they’re definitely executing their plan for 48 minutes and making it difficult. How much of a mental grind is that for you guys to kind of continue to keep pushing when they are taking away like like they’re taking away ants off the bounce threes and stuff like that? The things you guys like to get to for 48 minutes just finding different answers and pushing through. Even with that, you know, that’s that’s what a championship team does. They have that DNA where they can change different lineups, throw different guys in, tra play different coverages, play zone. Um, and those are all things we have to adjust to in the game. And just the way we have done it throughout the the first couple games has been um you know spectacular on being you know just being able to to to dissect and know when to to find guys in different situations and you know a being patient not trying to go get it right away. Um you know getting off the ball. Julius the same way letting other guys kind of get get shots and get in rhythm in different different uh fashions of the game. Uh it allows the game kind of open up at different points for them. And has it been a bit of a learning curve, I guess, figuring out other ways to get your threes up because obviously you got 14 tonight, but they really don’t want you getting it off the bounds. Yeah, for sure. Uh, it’s kind of it’s kind of crazy cuz teams usually don’t want me to get to the get to the hole, but it’s like now they don’t want me to shoot threes, step back threes. So, just trying to find that balance, man. And like I like Mike say, not not uh being thirsty all the time, like setting screens, finding my teammates, getting it getting it uh through actions. And I think um just playing off the ball is better for me playing versus this team cuz everybody is locked in on a game plan. They got they got a pretty good um group of guys that’s locked in on a game plan. Like you said, it’s a championship DNA team so they don’t make too many game plan mistakes. And how would you describe what opened up for you in the second half? I think you had eight points in the first half, 28 in in the second half. Was it more like you finding a rhythm or you finding how they were guarding you? Yeah, just um Finchy put me in great positions. um realizing um less ball screens because all they going to do is probably trap it and the the whoever setting the screen his man going to be super high where I got to pass the ball and then just playing off of Drew. I think that was another thing. And then um V our V2 action back screening for Mike trying to get a a worse defender on me and yeah Drew finding me on cuts and just give me easy looks and then just get into a rhythm. Jimmy, you had you guys had a five-point lead kind of early in the fourth quarter and kind of went bad from there. What what did you see happening uh at the close of the game? Uh, we probably just um didn’t get the shots that we wanted to get and turn the ball over a few times, ding it back. Uh, didn’t contest shots, didn’t take the three out the game, and then um that was it. Jimmy, how did the game change when Draymond picked up his fourth and then his sixth foul? Uh, I mean, obviously he’s, you know, one of the top defenders in the world, for sure the best defender on this squad. Um and you know when he’s out it it’s just it’s just different. Um you don’t got nobody back there that’s quarterback in the way that he does it that can switch everything that can get every loose ball and that can rebound. But um even whenever uh he does go out, we still got to be better. Steve talked about the importance of the defense overall without Steph on the floor. What did you just think of the overall performance? Uh I think we were better than our last game. Um, we still didn’t get as many loose balls and 50-50 balls as we talked about getting. Um, but overall we we did get better. Just wasn’t good enough. Obviously a much different team without Steph. What is the main difference and and how close do you think you guys are to being really in sync without Steph? I mean, we’re all right. I think we uh you know obviously with stuff out there he demands um two to three bodies when he’s out there on the floor. When he’s not you know there’s just no room for error. You you can’t make mistakes. You can’t turn the ball over. You can’t get back. All of those things. Um and then you you got to take um the right shots. you got to move the ball the right way because he’s the one individual for sure on this team and maybe in the league that can make sure you’re never out of any game. Uh so like I said, we just we just got to be better and and limit our mistakes. Jimmy, what do you take out of this game going into game four? Are there encouraging things that you take out of it? Yeah. Yeah, of course. Um that we can compete without Steph. Um we’re still as confident as ever. you know, we’re going to go back to the film and to the drawing boards and figure it out. Come back in here on Monday and uh get this thing to 22. Jimmy, you took 26 shots. Uh obviously more aggressive taking them. Was that just the mindset you had in this one that you’re going to have to put up a volume of shots? And how did you think your night went? Uh I mean, I don’t care how many shots I shoot. I don’t care how many points I score. If it’s not towards winning, none of that ever matters. Um, so you know, 26 shots, 36 shots. Next time, uh, it has to be in a win. 43 minutes, I believe. Um, are you feeling 43 minutes? Yeah, for sure. Uh, I wish I could have played like 48, though, back in my uh my Chicago days. Uh, whatever the squad needs for me to do, I got to be able to do it. Um, you know, I train to be able to play um, a large amount of minutes um, and do it in a effective way, but I got all the trust in Steve and the coaching staff and everybody else to make sure that I’m going to be ready. So, 43 it is 43 we got. How much of this is do you have to take the Steph out of your mind as far as like, you know, just think about this series without him or how much of you is thinking like get a win to make sure, you know, we could try to get him back? It’s it’s always get a win. Um if if we don’t win, we drior about getting stuff back this year. So, we got to, you know, put our big boy pants on and go out there and compete at a high level and get this one on Monday and then we can worry about the next one after that. But, you know, get some rest, recover, dominoes, coffee, kids. Jimmy, after the last game, you said you and JK can thrive together. And tonight you guys did just that. What do you like from him tonight and his aggression? Everything. Uh shooting the ball when he’s open, attacking into the free throw line. It’s a beautiful sight to see. Um but like I tell everybody, um me and him can thrive together. I know uh how to space the floor. You know, I can tell him, “Hey, when I have the ball, you go here and you do this.” And um we talk, we listen to one another. And then um he has an incredible game like tonight. Um, and he did so many good things out there on the floor and I know that he’s going to be a huge part in us winning on Monday. Jimmy, your role tonight was very similar to what your role was in the past. Uh, especially those Miami teams. How is your mindset uh, and couple more years? Uh, how has that changed from here from there to here? It hasn’t changed. Uh, I I know who I am as a player. Um, and I know what’s needed of me on any given night, so to speak. And it could change depending on who’s in and out of the lineup. But it doesn’t matter uh what part of my career I was in. If it doesn’t go towards winning, then it’s it’s all a waste. So, um whether I’m the player now or who I was x amount of years ago, we didn’t win tonight. So, none of that ever matters. Jimmy, Jimmy, what do you expect the the desperation and the urgency to feel like on Monday when you guys are back on the floor here? We straight I’m not going to tell my guys to be desperate or is any more urgent than anything. You go out there and you play basketball and you hoop and you leave all the noise up to myself, to Dre, to Steph, and uh to the coaching staff. You go out there and you do exactly what you’re doing. You’re doing great. The guys know that. Jimmy, how would you describe the challenges of score, excuse me, of scoring against a team like Minnesota with so many long athletic guys in the in the way? Yeah. Um, scoring is never the problem. You know, I think 97 can win in the playoffs. It’s us on the other end. We got to stop them from scoring. We got to not turn the ball over. We got to get back. Um, I definitely think that we can score with the best of them, but we got to be able to to guard with the best of them as well. Great. Parfo.

Timberwolves Leads Series 2-1

Source: NBA/National Basketball Association

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Timestamps:
0:00 Chris Finch
9:02 Steve Kerr
17:52 Buddy Hield
27:06 Anthony Edwards, Mike Conley & Julius Randle
37:09 Jimmy Butler

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